Young or Old, Yankees Stink

That smell you smell emanating from Yankee Stadium is the scent of mediocrity and Ben Gay. The Yankees were hoping their veteran stopper Andy Pettitte, would end their modest 1-game losing streak, but for the second straight start the left-hander fell apart in the middle in the innings, and the Yankees lost the lead and the game. This time it was the Detroit Tigers going on to a 6-2 vicory. To top things off the team lost yet another player, Phil Hughes, to the disabled list. Hughes will sit 15 days with a strained oblique, hopefully time enough to get him straightened out physically and mentally. It wouldn't be surprising at all for the Yankees to send him to Tampa for a rehab start or two when he's ready.

But back to tonight's fiasco. Armed with a 2-1 lead in the 5th, Pettitte (3-3) surrendered a 2-run home run to former Yankee Marcus Thames to put the Tigers ahead for good. In his previous start, Pettitte had a 3-1 lead in the 5th when the Indians' Jhonny Peralta belted a 3-run HR off of him. Franklin Gutierrez later added a solo shot in the same inning. This time it took an inning before Placido Polanco hit the first of his two solo home runs in the 6th inning.

We spoke earlier about the problems Jeremy Bonderman has been having with his control and velocity since the second half of last year. Tonight's 1st inning was no different as Bonderman again had trouble throwing strikes. Bonderman immediately fell behind lead off man Johnny Damon, 3-0, before coming back to get the count full. Damon then sliced a ball over the 3rd Base bag for a double. Derek Jeter singled through the left side and Bobby Abreu walked on four pitches to loaded the bases.

The lack of a big hit hurt again though as Hideki Matsui flew to shallow left-center for the first out. Jason Giambi's deep drive to left scored Damon with the first run before Melky Cabrera had a big 2-out single to score Jeter just ahead of Thames' throw from left. But the slump of Robinson Cano continued as he flew out routinely to left.

Having escaped without too much damage done, Bonderman (2-2) was a different pitcher after that He only allowed 3 hits through his remaining 6.2 innings and didn't walk another batter until Damon drew a free pass in the 8th inning.

News and Notes

Placido Polanco's 2nd home run of the game came against Kyle Farnsworth, who has surrendered 4 home runs in just 13.1 innings.

Brian Cashman announced after the game that Darrell Rasner will get Phil Hughes' start against Seattle on Sunday.

Chad Moeller passed through waivers and rejoined the ball club. Chris Stewart was designated for assignment. sent down to Scranton. One and Done.

April 30, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Detroit	0	1	0	0	2	2	0	1	0		6	10	0
NY Yankees	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		2	5	0

Detroit	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Rodriguez, C	5	0	0	0	0	1	3	.255
Polanco, 2B	5	2	2	2	0	0	2	.228
Sheffield, DH	4	1	2	0	0	1	0	.183
Ordonez, RF	3	1	1	0	1	1	1	.301
Cabrera, 1B	4	0	1	0	0	1	3	.270
Guillen, 3B	3	0	1	1	0	2	1	.321
Renteria, SS	4	1	1	1	0	1	1	.309
Thames, LF	2	1	1	2	0	0	1	.200
Granderson, CF	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	.375
Inge, CF-LF	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	.257
Totals	34	6	10	6	2	7	13
BATTING 2B: Granderson (3, Ramirez). HR: Thames (2, 5th inning off Pettitte, 1 on, 1 out), Polanco 2 (2, 6th inning off Pettitte, 0 on, 0 out; 8th inning off Farnsworth, 0 on, 0 out). TB: Polanco 8; Sheffield 2; Ordonez; Cabrera; Guillen; Renteria; Thames 4; Granderson 2. RBI: Renteria (17), Thames 2 (5), Polanco 2 (9), Guillen (12). 2-out RBI: Guillen. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Thames; Rodriguez; Guillen; Polanco. S: Guillen. GIDP: Cabrera. Team LOB: 5. BASERUNNING SB: Sheffield (3, 2nd base off Farnsworth/Molina). PO: Guillen (1st base by Pettitte).

Detroit	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Bonderman (W, 2-2)	7.2	5	2	2	2	1	0	3.86
Rapada	1.1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, LF	3	1	1	0	1	0	0	.276
Jeter, SS	4	1	1	0	0	0	1	.277
Abreu, RF	3	0	0	0	1	0	1	.269
Matsui, DH	4	0	1	0	0	0	3	.322
Giambi, 1B	3	0	0	1	0	0	1	.164
Cabrera, CF	4	0	2	1	0	1	0	.299
Cano, 2B	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	.151
Molina, C	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	.231
Gonzalez, 3B	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	.273
Totals	30	2	5	2	2	2	9
BATTING 2B: Damon (10, Bonderman). TB: Damon 2; Jeter; Matsui; Cabrera 2. RBI: Giambi (13), Cabrera (12). 2-out RBI: Cabrera. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Cano. SF: Giambi. Team LOB: 4. BASERUNNING CS: Cano (2, 2nd base by Bonderman/Rodriguez). FIELDING DP: (Jeter-Cano-Giambi). Pickoffs: Pettitte (Guillen at 1st base).

NY Yankees IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Pettitte (L, 3-3) 6.0 7 5 5 1 3 2 3.93 Hawkins 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 0 7.47 Farnsworth 1.0 2 1 1 0 2 1 4.05 Ramirez 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0.00

HBP: Inge (by Ramirez). Pitches-strikes: Bonderman 100-57, Rapada 16-9, Pettitte 92-65, Hawkins 20-14, Farnsworth 27-21, Ramirez 18-14. Ground outs-fly outs: Bonderman 11-10, Rapada 3-0, Pettitte 13-1, Hawkins 2-0, Farnsworth 0-1, Ramirez 1-1. Batters faced: Bonderman 29, Rapada 4, Pettitte 24, Hawkins 4, Farnsworth 5, Ramirez 5. Inherited runners-scored: Rapada 1-0. Umpires: HP: Chad Fairchild. 1B: Rick Reed. 2B: Jeff Kellogg. 3B: Scott Barry. Weather: 53 degrees, partly cloudy. Wind: 11 mph, L to R. T: 2:48. Att: 49,513.

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Yankees vs. Tigers - April 30

The Yankees and Tigers go at it again in the Bronx tonight. Andy Pettitte (3-2, 3.23), coming off of a rough start in Cleveland, goes up against Jeremy Bonderman (1-2, 4.28). Pettitte had strung together three good outings in a row, before he couldn't hold a 3-1 lead in a 5 inning stint against the Indians. Pettitte has to put together a 10-8, 3.49 record against the Tigers in 22 career starts.

Bonderman is having a rocky April after a very tough second half of 2007. Going into last year's All-Star break Bonderman was on fire. His 9-1 record and 3.48 ERA put him in San Francisco for his first All-Star game. But something was clearly not right in the second half. After walking just 24 batters in 106 innings, Bonderman issued the same amount of free passes in just 68.1 innings after the break.

After losing 8 of his last 10 decisions, a September MRI showed a pinched cartilage in Bonderman's right elbow, and though it didn't require surgery, his season was over. This season hasn't gone much better.

Bonderman has already walked 21 batters in 27.1 innings. He was removed in his last start with 2 outs in the 5th inning after walking in the tying run. It was his 7th walk of the game.

Tigers vs. Pettitte

Miguel Cabrera 3-9 2 HR 3 RBI
Curtis Granderson 0-7
Carlos Guillen 9-24 (.375) 3 RBI
Brandon Inge 5-14 (.357) 2 RBI
Jacques Jones 2-16 (.125) 7 K
Magglio Ordonez 12-35 (.343) 2 HR 6 RBI
Placido Polanco 2-4
Edgar Renteria 3-13 (.231)
Ivan Rodriguez 16-40 (.400) 2 HR 5 RBI
Gary Sheffield 0-3
Marcus Thames 0-3
Ramon Santiago 0-4

Yankees vs. Bonderman

Bobby Abreu 6-9 (.667) 1 HR 3 RBI
Melky Cabrera 5-13 (.385) 3 RBI
Robinson Cano 5-18 (.278)
Johnny Damon 14-32 (.438) 2 HR 6 RBI
Jason Giambi 3-15 (.200)
Derek Jeter 5-26 (.192) 2 HR 6 RBI
Hideki Matsui 10-19 (.526) 3 HR 9 RBI
Jose Molina 2-8


Tonight's lineup courtesy of Peter Abraham:

Damon LF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Matsui DH
Giambi 1B
Cabrera CF
Cano 2B
Molina C
Gonzalez 3B

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